ANANTAPUR: In a shocking incident, five persons of Ashok Nagar and Vidyuth Nagar areas here were hospitalised after consuming milk poisoned with pesticide in Bathalapalli mandal on Sunday.

But for the early detection of poison in the milk, it could have claimed several lives.

The Bathalapalli police took a TDP supporter Sivaiah of Eedula Mushturu village into custody on charge of mixing a pesticide (monocrotophos) in the milk. According to the police, Congress supporters Somasekhara Reddy and his brother Diwakar Reddy of Raghavampalli were milk vendors who collected milk from farmers in E.Mushturu and sold it to customers in Bathalapalli and Anantapur. Sivaiah was one of the farmers who sold milk to Somasekhar Reddy.

As usual, the brothers collected milk on Sunday and first supplied 15 litres in the RDT office at Bathalapalli and later to some residents in Ashok Nagar and Vidyuth Nagar areas.

The alert cook informed a doctor at the campus when he suspected something fishy after he found the milk turning yellow when it was being boiled in the RDT office. The doctor was shocked to discover that poison was mixed in the milk.

Cable networks

The milk vendor who was immediately informed rushed to the Collector and SP's offices to alert them. The matter was aired on local cable networks cautioning customers not to consume the milk supplied by the vendor.

Suspecting that Sivaiah could have mixed the poison, Somasekhara Reddy lodged a complaint with the Bathalapalli police. The police arrested Sivaiah after they found an empty can of pesticide while conducting a search at his cattle shed.

Somasekhara Reddy had canvassed for a Congress MPTC candidate from Sanjeevapuram in the local bodies' polls. The police suspect Sivaiah could have resorted to the dreadful crime to take revenge. Meanwhile, the TDP leaders alleged that it was another case of victimisation.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail